Thursday, 1 November 2012

Halloween!


We hope that everyone had a great Halloween.
 
But why do we celebrate Halloween? Certainly it can't just be for the lollies and cutting out the pumpinks ...

Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31.  The word Halloween is a shortening of All Hallows Evening also known as Hallowe'en or All Hallows' Eve.

Traditional activities include trick-or-treating, bonfires, costume parties, visiting "haunted houses" and carving jack-o-lanterns.

Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain. The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. Samhain was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare for winter. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc such as sickness or damaged crops.  

Masks and costumes were worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or appease them. 

Trick-or-treating, is an activity for children on or around Halloween in which they proceed from house to house in costumes, asking for treats such as confectionery with the question, "Trick or treat?" The "trick" part of "trick or treat" is a threat to play a trick on the homeowner or his property if no treat is given. Trick-or-treating is one of the main traditions of Halloween. It has become socially expected that if one lives in a neighborhood with children one should purchase treats in preparation for trick-or-treaters. 

 

 
A big thanks to our friends at Cooinda Cat Resort for this awesome information


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